The Virtual Gardener—Mystery Revealed

Vol. 25, No. 1 January 2014

The University of Arizona and U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating

High on the Desert Cochise County Master Gardener Newsletter

In a Desert Garden 2

Improve Your Garden 3

January Reminders 3

At a Glance Box 4

Manzanita 4

High Desert Conference 5

Scholarship Application 5

Ask a Master Gardener 5

Cuttings “N’ Clippings 6

Inside this issue:

Cochise County Cooperative Extension

www.ag.arizona.edu/cochise/mg/ 1140 N. Colombo, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 450 S. Haskell, Willcox, AZ 85643

(520) 458-8278, Ext. 2141 (520) 384-3594

In last month’s

newsletter I showed

this picture of an

“artifact” that was

exposed by a friend

while digging in his

garden in Tucson and asked readers to

submit their guesses as to what it might

be. I received many responses, most of

which correctly identified the object as

the chrysalis or pupal case of a sphinx

moth. The long “stem” of the chili-

pepper shaped object is the long

proboscis of the adult moth. One of the

responses went even further and

suggested it was probably either a

White lined sphinx moth (Hyles

lineata) or a tomato horn worm

(Manduca quinquemaculata), which are

common in Arizona. One, unwilling to

commit to a specific ID, just said it was

a chrysalis.

Hawk moths, sphinx moths, and

hornworms belong to a family of

insects called the Sphingidae that

includes hundreds of species. This

family name is derived from the Greek

word (Σφίγξ) for the Sphinx—a

monster in Greek mythology with the

head of a woman, the wings of a bird,

the body of a lion, and the tail of a

snake who ate those who could not

answer her riddle. Presumably the

shape of these moths suggested the

name to the French entomologist who

coined it, Pierre Andre Latreille.

If you’ll excuse a short digression, I

read an interesting story about Latreille

in a Wikipedia article that explains

how a beetle saved his life. It seems

that he originally trained to become a

priest but chose a very bad time to do

so. The French Revolution had just

overthrown the monarchy and the new

government required all priests to

swear allegiance to the state or face

imprisonment and death. Latreille

refused and was imprisoned. While in

prison he correctly identified a rare

beetle found in the dungeon. The beetle

was sent to a local naturalist who knew

Latreille’s work and got him sprung. So

(Continued on Page 2)

it pays to know your bugs!

There are more members of the

Sphingidae family in Arizona than

you probably ever imagined. An

entomologist, Bill Oehlke, who is

interested in this family has

compiled a list of them that you

can find on this webpage. In

addition to extensive descriptions

of each of the species, there are

lots of pictures of them in all

states of development, many

contributed by local naturalist/

photographer/author Bob

Behrstock. Bob’s web site is: http://www.naturewideimages.com/

Hyles lineata, the White lined

sphinx moth is a large, swift

flying, and aerobatic moth that

feeds on nectar through a long

proboscis. Because of its feeding

habits and ability to hover in

flight, it is often mistaken for a

hummingbird. It will usually be

seen from dusk to dawn but may

be seen during the day as well.

The fore-wings and body are

colored in shades of cream, tan,

and brown but the hind wings

have a distinctive band of pink.

The caterpillars are usually a

bright green decorated with

orange and black stripes or spots.

Manduca quinquemaculatus (AKA Five-spotted hawkmoth) is

better known to gardeners in its

caterpillar form. It is the dreaded

tomato hornworm. This caterpillar

(Continued from page 1)

P A G E 2

In a Desert Garden

Euphorbia or Spurges

The Euphorbia is a large family

of plants that are very different in

looks and appearance, but they are

all succulents. The most well

known Euphorbia is E. pulcher-

rima, the Christmas poinsettia. A

smaller but very similar cousin is

P. cyanthophora, also called Mexi-

can Fire plant or Painted Spurge.

This plant is native to Southern

Arizona and Mexico. I have it

growing all over my garden. It is a

tender plant that only in sheltered

areas survives the winters, but it

self-seeds itself and never dies out.

Another one I grow in my garden is

E. rigida or Gopher plant, I think

this common name is not right as it

does not repel gophers, but it is a

very attractive plant that can grow

into a small shrub. In spring the

long gray-green arms grow char-

treuse flower clusters. After bloom-

ing is finished these need to be cut

back to the ground to make the

plant look tidy. One of my favorite

Euphorbia or Spurge is a new hy-

brid called E. graminea ‘Diamond

Frost’. This plant is not frost hardy

and needs to spend the winter in a

greenhouse or in the house in a

bright window. This plant looks

nothing like the other plants that I

have described. It has a very airy

look with tender stems, small

leaves, and its spray of tiny white

flowers. It tends to bloom all year

long. In the big box stores it seems

to be sold planted together with the

Christmas poinsettia.

Another one of my favorites is E.

antisyphilitica or Candelilla, a

shrubby mound of blue-green clus-

ters of leafless, pencil-like stems.

During the rainy season these

stems get small clusters of tiny

white flowers.

E. tirucalli, pencil plant is anoth-

er plant I grow and like. It has a

tree-like way of growing, but has to

be taken inside as well during our

winters. E. trigona or African Milk

Plant is an easy to grow plant that

is suited to the house. It can grow

quite tall—to six feet—and is im-

pressive. When there is moisture in

the air the tree-like branches with

spines will grow small leaves.

There are many more varieties of

Euphorbia. Some look like cactus

such as E. serelformis or Milk Bar-

rel Spurge, E. obese or Baseball

Plant, and E. esculenta or Medusa's

Head. All of the Spurges are

drought tolerant and can be killed

by overwatering.

Angel Rutherford. Master Gardener

Photographer

is a large, green critter with a

distinctive black “horn” at its tail

end. It has a big appetite and can

strip a tomato plant to bare stems in

a short period of time. Adults are

large, rather indistinctive moths in

shades of grey. Their most distinc-

tive markings are five orange spots

along each side of the abdomen.

So, our mystery has been solved.

We’re always on the lookout for

more mysteries, so if you find

something puzzling in your garden,

snap a picture of it and send it to

me. We’ll see if my readers can

correctly identify it.

Until next time, happy surfing!

Gary Gruenhagen, Master Gardener

virtualgardener@cox.net

Photo by Karen LeMay

Candellilla

garden. One of the sessions at the

upcoming 21st annual High Desert

Gardening & Landscaping Confer-

ence (March 13 and 14 in the Stu-

dent Union Building of Cochise

College in Sierra Vista) will feature

Cochise County Master Gardener

Gary Gruenhagen (AKA the Virtual

Gardener) speaking about ways to

employ a number of technologies in

your garden. It’ll be one of many

good talks at the Conference! I hope

you can attend. Here’s a link to the

information about the Conference: http://ag.arizona.edu/cochise/mg/

HighDesertConf/ConfHomePage.html So, hard on the heels of Christ-

mas, maybe you were lucky enough

to have received a gift card to a ma-

jor retailer. Or maybe you’ve just

got fifty bucks burning a hole in

your wallet and you need a new toy.

What better way to spend it than on

a new digital microscope that’ll fas-

cinate you AND help in the garden.

Heck, it’ll even educate and enter-

tain your kids or grandkids. Such a

deal!

Happy Gardening!

Bill Schulze, Master Gardener

billwithccmga@gmail.com

around 25X to perhaps 125X.

Spending more money results in a

greater range of magnification,

though I think most of us can easily

get by with an upper end magnifi-

cation around 100X to 125X. Based

on my experience, I often find a

low double-digit magnification to

be optimum anyway. I don’t envi-

sion myself needing to identify vi-

ruses or tweak DNA strands at in-

sanely high magnification levels.

Digital microscopes are available

from major online retailers and

some brick-and-mortar stores. In-

terestingly, one good place to find

them is a well stocked toy store.

There are many brand names,

among them are Carson Z-Pix,

Celestron, OMAX, Learning Re-

sources, and AmScope. Some digi-

tal microscopes resemble the clas-

sic microscope from your high

school biology days, but many are

simply a cylinder about an inch or

two in diameter and four or five

inches long. They usually have a

built-in light source at the viewing

end. The one I own doesn’t even

offer the option of viewing through

an old fashioned lens; the object

being studied shows up only on the

computer screen, very large and

very easy to see.

Digital microscopes are easy and

fun to use. What is that tiny insect

on your tomato plant? Get a jar,

catch the bug (I know that can be

easier said than done), and throw it

under the microscope for a good

view. Of course, many insects

aren’t willing to just sit there while

you look at them, so here’s an easy

way to get them to comply. Just

place the jar containing the insect in

the freezer for half an hour or so.

That will slow them down quite

nicely.

There are many other technolo-

gies that can be quite useful in the

Have you ever wished you

could get a better look at that tiny

insect that seems to be devouring

your lettuce? Ever wonder what a

spider mite, beet leafhopper, or an

aphid look like close-up and per-

sonal? What about those tiny le-

sions on the leaf of your tomato

plant? What are they—bacterial

speck, blight, or septoria leaf

spot? Did the shrub you lost suf-

fer an attack of Texas Root Rot

(which you’d inexplicably call

“Cotton Root Rot” if you were

from Texas)? Well, if you had a

microscope, you’d be able to get a

much better view of these tiny

things afflicting your plants. But

microscopes are hard to use and

expensive. Right? Wrong!

It just so happens that there is a

nifty tool to help you diagnose

plant diseases, identify insects,

and generally peer into the world

of the tiny—the digital micro-

scope. These are clever, and most

importantly, inexpensive devices

that connect to your computer,

typically via a USB cable. They

allow the object being viewed to

be seen right on the computer

screen. Most, if not all, also allow

you to snap a photo of the object

or even take a video clip of it. If

you can’t identify what you are

looking at, with photo in hand,

you can take your picture to your

local bug ID expert or even e-mail

it to your local County Extension

Office for assistance. How cool is

that?

Prices for one of these gadgets

range from under $50 to perhaps

$200, and although you can pur-

chase professional quality devices

for a lot more, the less expensive

models are more than adequate

for the home gardener. Magnifi-

cation ranges on ‘scopes in the

$50 range typically run from

P A G E 3

Improve Your Garden, Think Small

Winter prune

Remove old mulch & replace

Dig tree holes

Prepare soil for spring

Water periodically

Stratify seeds

Fertilize asparagus

General garden clean-up

P A G E 4

At a Glance Box

It’s a Bloomin’ Cochise County Native Plant of the Month

Plant: Manzanita, Arctostaphylos pungens

Description: A woody, evergreen shrub

Blooms: Winter, early spring

Use: Specimen evergreen shrub, wildlife food plant

Culture: Semi-xeric, mountain habitat

Learn more: Cochise County Herbarium, www.cochisecountyherbarium.org

For an in-depth article, see below.

Cado Daily

Water Resources Coordinator, Water Wise Program

University of Arizona Cochise County Cooperative Extension

Many southwest gardeners have

tried to grow blueberries. Let’s give

them an “A” for effort but “F” for

success. Why? Because they were

trying the wrong kind of blueberry!

Here in the southwest, we have our

own native “blueberries.” They are

Arctostaphylos pungens (pronounced

arc-toe-STAFF-ih-los PUN-gens),

commonly called “manzanita” or

“little apple.” What is the connection

between these two shrubby plants?

Have you ever looked at the flowers

of the manzanita? They are almost

exactly like the delicate bell-shaped

blueberry flowers! Additionally, the

evergreen leaves are similar to the

blueberry. However, it is the flower

that puts both plants in the Heather

family, Ericaceae.

The manzanita is a spectacular 3 to

6 foot shrub with very smooth, sinu-

ous, mahogany-colored bark suggest-

ing an underlying muscle structure to

the trunk. The berries, of the same

rich color, droop in clusters from the

ends of the twigs. The berries are

sweet and dry, with the same con-

sistency as jujube fruit, and have a

hard seed. The manzanita fruits are

devoured by ringtail cats, coatimun-

dis, skunks, foxes, coyotes, javelinas,

and my blind dog. On walks up our

Mule Mountain canyon, my blind

dog “Tuerto” used to snuffle around

the base of manzanitas and amazing-

ly find the pea-sized berries buried in

the duff. Pretty good nose, I thought.

Animal scat is full of the seeds

scarified by digestive juices prepar-

ing them for germination. While

hiking in the mountains, the natural

habitat of the manzanita, keep your

eye out for scat with the same ma-

hogany color as the berries. You can

gather some up and try starting your

own plant.

A much easier propagation method

is to find a very small manzanita

close to its mother plant. The plant

is most likely growing from a

branch that has touched the ground

and rooted. I was very successful in

transplanting a manzanita using the

following method. Find a candidate

plant. Dig down to see if it is rooted

from a branch from the mother

plant. If so, dig underneath the roots

enough to bury a 1-gallon nursery

pot. Fill the pot with the surrounding

soil and cover the manzanita roots.

Over the next few months, slowly

cut away the mother plant. When

done, dig out the pot and take your

new plant home for transplant in

your yard. (Note: Please be aware of state and

federal laws regulating the collection

and transportation of plant materials.

A permit may be required for collect-

ing plants. To learn more visit the

Arizona Department of Agriculture’s

website at: http://www.azda.gov/esd/

NativePlants.aspx )

Try to mimic the environment

where you found your new plant

to give it good growing condi-

tions. Bill Cook, with Cochise

County Cooperative Extension,

after a lot of trial and error has

successfully transplanted mature

plants. For more information on

his method, email him at

duncanite853@yahoo.com (Note: Bill Cook will be speaking at

the CCMGA meeting on January

9—see Page 6 for info.)

Because of manzanita’s ability

to root from branch nodes in the

wild, manzanitas grow in clus-

ters. In your yard, you can control

how much the plant grows. It

would be great if you have room

for a thicket, but one plant is plen-

ty too! Keep in mind that they are

flammable, so keep plants 30 feet

away from structures and flamma-

ble items.

Although drought tolerant, in

cultivation manzanitas would ben-

efit from some passive water har-

vesting (you can tell when the

plant is water stressed when their

leaves move into a vertical posi-

tion to reduce transpiration). Sev-

eral years ago, when we had three

consecutive dry winters, many

manzanitas died leaving their gray

skeletons to haunt the hillsides.

Manzanitas are naturally found

growing in oak-woodlands indi-

cating that a slightly acidic soil

may be preferable, yet I see them

growing on rocky Pinal schist and

limestone in the Mules. To mimic

mountain temperatures, they

would benefit from a cooler loca-

tion in your yard.

Although not juicy like the blue-

berry, the berries can be used as

food and made into a drink as was

done by Native Americans. The

berries also make yummy jelly.

We know ‘westerners’ are dif-

ferent from ‘easterners’ so why

covet the blueberry? Ever tried

manzanita pie?

Ms. Cado Daily, M.A.

Water Resources Coordinator

Manzanita

Cochise County Master Gardeners

are available to answer your garden-

ing questions either by telephone

call to the Cooperative Extension

Office or on-line on our web site at:

http://ag.arizona.edu/cochise/mg/q

uestion.htm

The following comes from our web

site’s Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: Should I fertilize and wa-

ter my house plants during the win-

P A G E 5

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Jeffrey C.

Silvertooth, Associate Dean & Director, Economic Development & Extension, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona. The

University of Arizona is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities.

The information given herein is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by Cooperative Extension is implied.

Any products, services, or organizations that are mentioned, shown, or indirectly implied in this publication do not imply endorsement by the University of Arizona.

Ask a Master Gardener

High Desert Gardening & Landscaping Conference Scholarship Application

The Cochise County Master Gardeners Association (CCMGA) is awarding up to three full scholarships to the 2014 High Desert Garden-ing & Landscaping Conference to be held at Cochise Community Col-lege, Sierra Vista, AZ, March 13 and 14, 2014. Applicants are invited to submit an essay on one of the following top-ics:

Gardening for food production Landscaping with native plants Environmental stewardship

Essays must meet the following criteria: 1. 750 to 1,000 words in length. 2. Represent original scholarship and be suitable for publication. All

references and authorities cited must be properly attributed. 3. Please submit as an attachment (plain text format) to an e-mail to:

ccmgasecretary@gmail.com Subject: Conference Scholarship

4. Entries must be received no later than close of business on Febru-ary 10, 2014.

Entries will be judged by a committee of Master Gardeners appointed by the President of CCMGA. The awardees will be notified no later than February 25, 2014. By submitting your entry you understand that it becomes the sole

property of Cochise County Master Gardeners Association and may be published in the

Cochise County Master Gardener Newsletter*.

*The Cochise County Master Gardener Newsletter is a publication of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.

The Cochise County Master

Gardeners Association (CCMGA)

will be hosting its 21st Annual

High Desert Gardening & Land-

scaping Conference on March 13

and 14, 2014 at Cochise Commu-

nity College in Sierra Vista. This

two-day conference is the longest

running gardening and landscap-

ing conference of its kind in Ari-

zona and regularly attracts at-

tendees from high desert regions

all across the southwestern Unit-

ed States.

There will be many interesting

and informative sessions. A Con-

tinental breakfast and lunch are

included in the registration fee of

$65.00 for one day and on both

days for $100.00. Pre-registration

for the conference will begin ear-

ly in January and close on March

8 on a space available basis.

Each year up to three scholar-

ships are awarded by CCMGA to

cover the two-day registration to

the High Desert Conference. See

details here

High on the Desert

ter?

Answer: Houseplants are generally

tropical in origin and survive best in

warm humid environments. House-

plants need to be watered because of

the limited soil volume they are con-

fined to. House temperatures are warm

and allow plants to continue to grow.

The best way to determine soil mois-

ture is to stick a finger in the soil one

to two inches. If the soil feels dry, wa-

ter; if soil feels moist, don't water.

Fertilizing houseplants during in the

winter months is not encouraged

because of reduced light from the

sun. However, if you are "spoon

feeding" your plants, that is giv-

ing a little fertilizer at each water-

ing, cut back on the fertilizer by

giving 1/3 to 1/2 the normal

amount.

Many house plants need high

humidity to be "happy." This is

especially true with ferns. With

forced air heating in many homes,

(Continued on page 6)

Cutt ings ‘N’ Cl ippings

CCMGA will hold it's next

meeting on Thursday, January 9,

in the Public Meeting Room in

Groth Hall at UASV, from 5:00—

7:00 p.m. This first get together

for 2014 will be a special two-hour

workshop dedicated to Seed Prop-

agation. Bill Cook, Program Coor-

dinator, with the UA Cooperative

Extension for Cochise County, is

the scheduled workshop guide. The

public is welcome to join us in this

highly educational and fun event.

The next Water Wise talk will

be Artful and Eco-friendly Arizo-

na Gardens, presented by Greg

Corman of Gardening Insights,

Tucson on Saturday, January 4

from 9—10:30 a.m. in the PMR,

Groth Hall, at UASV, 1140 N. Co-

lombo Ave. Greg will share ways

to create beautiful and easy-care

gardens that incorporate art, wild-

life habitat, and native plants. Na-

P A G E 6

Cochise County Master

Gardener Newsletter Editor

Carolyn Gruenhagen

house humidity can be lower dur-

ing the winter than during the hot

summer because of swamp cooler

use. Humidity can be created by

placing the potted plant on top of

a pebble filled shallow dish. Fill

the dish with water as needed,

maintaining the water level near

the top. The dish should have a

diameter nearly as large as the

plant diameter. The pebbles are

important so that the potted plant

is not sitting in water which will

cause soil saturation, and thus root

rot. As the water evaporates a hu-

mid environment is created in

which a tropical plant will grow

and thrive. This is

much better than

using a squirt bottle

three times a day to

try and humidify

(Continued from page 5)

tive bee houses by Greg will be for

sale after the talk. For information

call (520) 458-8278, Ext 2141, or

contact Joyce at:

jwilliam@ag.arizona.edu/

You can visit Water Wise at:

waterwise.arizona.edu

Sierra Vista will be recycling

Christmas trees with their Wednes-

day yard waste pick-ups. You may

schedule by calling 520-458-7530.

This is a free service for Sierra

Vista residents. Both Cochise

County and city residents can drop

off Christmas trees for free at the

city’s compost facility at mile

marker 325 on Hwy 90 near the

Cochise County Refuse Transfer

Station. - Sierra Vista Herald